


You Got What You Wanted

by m0nica



Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0nica/pseuds/m0nica
Summary: Mild cannon diversion for the sake of angst, set somewhere in the early chapters of Book 3. Riley (used all character default names) is engaged to Maxwell, but he can't possibly go against his House and his best friend by marrying her.
Relationships: Liam/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont & Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. Breakup

Riley tied her robe tightly, took a deep breath, and quietly stepped out onto her balcony. She desperately needed fresh air, almost as desperately as she needed to know where her fiance was. It had been nearly two weeks since they’d had a proper conversation. Things were fine after his proposal, they were exceptional in fact, but that had quickly changed. Seemingly out of nowhere, Maxwell had gone completely cold. He started having these constant, mysterious meetings, but nothing that he thought would concern Riley. He would never tell her who they were with or why his schedule was so overloaded with him, but apparently they were too important to ever miss or talk about. When he was around for important courtly functions or meals, he was cold as ice. He was no longer his energetic, humorous self. He didn’t crack any jokes like he used to, in fact he hardly spoke a word to her. He stopped rubbing her thighs under the dinner table or lovingly squeezing her hand as they walked around the room together schmoozing with nobles. He wasn’t necessarily rude, but he wasn’t kind either. He’d answer Riley’s questions in simple, short sentences, and would insist everything was fine everytime she pressed the issue. He would take her arm and guide her around the ballrooms and acted like a perfect diplomat, but dropped her arm the moment they were no longer visible to the public. 

Riley had tried everything to get to the bottom of it. She wracked her brain daily to try to find some sort of explanation of what she could’ve done to warrant this behavior. At first, she thought the shock and the trauma of the attacks were getting to him. Like the amazing love she was, she expressed to him how supportive of him she was and how much she loved him, and encouraged him to talk to someone about what he was going through. As per usual, he insisted there was nothing wrong and he was acting as he always had. She had assured him many times that if any of this was too much, the wedding or the Unity Tour, they could stop all of it and she’d still love him. She hadn’t missed the fact that he no longer told her that he loved her back. After a few days, she stopped saying it all together. It was just too painful.

In the last few days, she had resorted to just giving him his space. She no longer asked him about his meetings, in fact she didn’t ask him much of anything at all. They ate their meals in silence, and it took everything in Riley to hold back her tears each time. She had no idea what had happened to her relationship or what she possibly could have done to cause this. It was eating her alive. She had never felt so helpless. Her marriage was over before it even began, and it didn’t seem like she could do anything to salvage it. 

She leaned on her balcony railing and took in the crisp night air. This was usually calming for her, but it did nothing to ease the pain in her chest. She looked off into the distance, a view that was usually so beautiful. She overlooked a breathtaking garden filled with the most gorgeous flowers she’d ever seen. She looked over to the stunning fountain in the center of the garden, where her and Maxwell had decided they wanted to be together. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Maxwell had been in love with her, though it had hardly been a month. Thinking about how much had changed since then was excruciating. 

In her periphery, she noticed a shadow move by the fountain. She spotted Maxwell walking through the garden, sitting down on the edge of the fountain and cradling his head in his hands. He ran his hands through his hair and threw his head back, like he was looking to the stars for guidance. This was the most emotion Riley had seen him show in almost two weeks, and she knew that this was probably her best chance to get him to open up to her. As quietly as possible, she darted back into her bedroom, slipped on some shoes, and headed straight for the garden.

Maxwell noticed her as she approached, but much to her surprise he didn’t run away.

“Hey” Maxwell said, giving her a half smile.

“Hi.” Riley responded, taking a seat a few feet beside him. She was too afraid to get too close.

The two stayed in silence for a few moments, until Maxwell finally spoke, “What are you doing up so late?”

“Oh, I was just out on my balcony getting some air and I saw you out here. I, uh, wanted to make sure you were okay” Riley said nervously, “What are you doing up?”

“I was out with some friends. I just got back.”

“Oh. Fun.” 

Maxwell just nodded, still not looking at her. They sat in silence some more, and Riley contemplated just walking away.

“Riley, I’m sorry about the way I’ve acted towards you. I’ve just had so much on my mind, but it is so unfair for me to be so unkind to you. You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry” Maxwell stated, finally looking in Riley’s direction.

“What’s been on your mind?” Riley pressed. She didn’t need his apology, she just needed to know what was going on.

Maxwell went back to being quiet and looking at his feet. It was clear she was going to have a hard time getting him to open up to her, which stung more than she could’ve ever described. This was not an issue they’d ever had before. There had never been secrets.

“Maxwell, if all of this has been too fast--” she started.

“That’s not it” Maxwell adamantly interjected.

“Then what?” Riley questioned. Back to silence. 

“We don’t have to get married right now, if this is too much too soon. We don’t have to make our wedding this big public spectacle either, if that’s not what you want” Riley began, awaiting a response from Maxwell. He didn’t speak, so she continued “I don’t care about any of that stuff. We don’t have to do any of it. I don’t care about what Liam and Bertrand want us to do.” 

Maxwell shivered at the name of his brother. Riley had clearly struck a nerve. She slid closer to him and cautiously cradled his face in her hands, “I just want to be with you. I don’t care about the rest.”

Still, Maxwell didn’t speak. He finally met her gaze, and Riley saw the watery sheen in his eyes. She used her finger to sweep a single tear away before leaning closer to him.

“I want to be with you, Maxwell. Do you want to be with me?”

She waited, and waited, and waited for a resounding "yes!" that never came. His silence hurt worse than anything he could’ve possibly said. She would’ve rathered he punch her in the stomach and spit on her than do what he did-- stare at her in tense, excruciating silence. She waited for just a few moments, but it dawned on her that the issue was much deeper than she had thought. This wasn’t about the attacks or the wedding, this was about her. He didn’t love her. 

Slowly, Riley dropped her hands and whispered, “Oh.” She pushed herself off of the fountain ledge and stood, starting to walk away.

“R-Riley, wait” Maxwell whimpered, tears threatening to fall. He reached for her hand, trying to pull her back towards him, though she didn't budge. She turned back to him and offered him the most authentic smile she could. She was trying to look calm and make this as easy for him as possible. 

“I understand, Maxwell” she said, gently pulling her hand out of his grasp. In its place, she left her engagement ring in Maxwell’s palm. His eyes opened wide as he saw it glisten in his hand. He held it up in his hand, as if to see if it was real. He gave her one last fleeting look as his tears started to fall.

“Riley” he managed to choke out, his breathing hitched. Riley's own tears were pouring out as well.

“Goodnight, Maxwell.” Riley sobbed, her composure crumbling. She walked away from him as fast as she could, but it was quickly too much to bear and she took off running. Maxwell stood as if to chase after her, but his legs were as heavy as cement. He was frozen in place. All he could do was stare at the beautiful diamond ring, the one that was supposed to symbolize forever, cold in his palm.

He hadn’t known how long he had been standing there, numb, but he was brought back into reality by the sound of his name. He whipped around to see his brother, standing just a few feet away from him in the courtyard.

“What are you doing out here?” Bertrand asked, cautiously stepping towards him.

"I could ask you the same” Maxwell hissed.

“I was in the study and I saw Duchess Riley run from out of the courtyard. I came to make sure everything was alright.

Maxwell scoffed, “You got what you wanted.”

“What are you talking about?” Bertrand questioned.

“The wedding is off.” Maxwell hissed, pressing the ring into his brother’s hand. 

Maxwell stormed off, ignoring Bertrand’s pleas for him to come back.


	2. Discussion

Riley hadn’t gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep. Everytime she started to doze off, she was reminded of some other excruciating detail of what she had lost, and her heart ached again. She went over every moment she had ever spent with Maxwell in her head, just like she had for weeks, desperate to find the reason he had stopped loving her. Even in her devastation, she sympathized with him. This whirlwind romance wasn’t something he had ever signed up for. He must’ve gotten caught up in the excitement of it all, convinced himself he was in love, and eventually snapped out of it. She was even more saddened thinking about how he must’ve felt throughout all of this; how tough of a decision he’d have to make. Still, she thought of about a million ways he could have handled this better. They’d been the best of friends for months. This should have been something he could have told her. She wondered for how long she had just been strung along. Did he figure it out after they slept together for the first time? For the second time? Or did he already know before that? She wept at the thought.

Maxwell’s night wasn’t restful either. He had no luck evading his brother as he stormed off through the courtyard. He was terrifying even in his hushed tone of voice.  
“Maxwell Percival Beaumont, get back here this instant!” he whisper-yelled.

“I have nothing to say to you” Maxwell hissed in response, stomping further away.

“Honestly, Maxwell! I have never seen this level of outlandish behavior, even from you!”

“Because I have never felt this way, Bertrand! I’ve never been this… this… mad!”

Bertrand’s face and voice both softened, “I know how… invested one can be in their first love. It’s quite difficult. And Duchess Riley is quite the young lady, but you did the right thing.”

Maxwell scoffed, “I didn’t do anything.”

Bertrand raised an eyebrow, “Duchess Riley ended the engagement?”

Maxwell looked back into his empty hands as if her ring was still in them.

“Well, yes, but I didn’t exactly put up a fight.”

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing.”

Bertrand rolled his eyes, “Maxwell, what did you say to her? This is important.”

“I’m serious, Bertrand!” Maxwell snapped, “I didn’t say anything to her. Not a single word.”

Maxwell slumped down into the bench and continued, “She asked me if I wanted to marry her, and then I just… didn’t say anything. So she gave me the ring back.”

Bertrand sat next to him, and did his best at giving him a reassuring pat on the back, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I couldn’t lie to her” Maxwell shrugged, “So I didn’t.”

“You did the right thing, Maxwell. This is what’s right for Cordonia, for House Belmont, for family.”

That was what made Maxwell snap.

“For family? You’re going to lecture me about family?” Maxwell boomed. He stood up in fury, “You, the man can’t have a conversation with the mother of his child? The one who has next to no relationship with his son is going to lecture me about family?”

“Watch it,” Bertrand warned.

“As if Riley isn’t family? After everything she’s done for the both of us? She’s a member of House Beaumont as much as you and I, Bertrand! She is family!” Maxwell was starting to yell. Bertrand shushed him and motioned for him to keep his voice down.

“At least she was supposed to be family. My family.” Tears started to flood his eyes again, and he looked back at the ground, “We were going to be a family. And that makes her your family, too!”

Bertrand patted the seat on the bench next to him, encouraging his brother to sit back down, “I’m sorry, brother. I know how difficult this is. But this is the right thing for everyone.” Maxwell bit his lip and tried to fight back his tears, but he didn’t speak.

“You know that Riley is going to be an amazing queen. She was born for this. She is the best option for Cordonia.” 

Maxwell nodded glumly, “I know she’ll be a perfect queen. And I know that Liam is in love with her, too. Hell, I’m pretty sure all of our friends are. I understand all of that, Bertrand.”

“Then you understand that without a royal heir Cordonia is in even more dire of circumstances, Maxwell. Riley will be a great ruler, produce a great heir, and restore House Beaumont. This is what’s best for her, too, as well as the King.”

“You didn’t see her face.”

“You both will get through this” Bertrand promised, handing the engagement ring back to Maxwell, “and you will meet another noblewoman who--”

“If you honestly think I’m ever going to meet someone like Riley you have truly lost your mind!” Maxwell cried.

Bertrand stared back in shocked silence. He had truly never seen his brother act this way, not even as a child. He could count on one hand how many times he’d ever seen his brother angry about anything.

“I can’t believe I let you worm your way into my head about this” Maxwell shook his head.

“Maxwell, please. I didn’t make you do this. It shouldn’t have ever gotten this far. You never should’ve proposed to her! For God’s sake, Maxwell, you brought her out here to marry someone else.”

“I love her, Bertrand! And she loved me! I understand that isn’t an emotion that you’re familiar with, but--”

“Enough! I’m not going to listen to this anymore. You got yourself into this mess, and for once you did the responsible, adult thing and got yourself out of it. I didn’t ask you to do anything. We all have to give up things, things that we love, for the family” Bertrand looked at the ground.

“You know nothing about family” Maxwell spat, turning on his heel and heading back for the castle. His brother called after him, but he had no intention of turning back around.


	3. Morning After

Riley wasn’t sure how she was supposed to function. She’d never felt this level of devastation before, and she had no idea how to handle it. Although she got little sleep, she was up bright and early. She knew that soon she would have to face Maxwell, Bertrand, and the rest of the court, but she knew she needed at least one day to prepare herself. She needed at least one day to pity herself, to hate Maxwell, and to mourn.

She tried as hard as she could to hate Maxwell, but she had little success. How could she blame him for how he felt, or no longer felt? Honestly, she felt sympathy for him. She couldn’t imagine the emotional turmoil he must have been going through. They were supposed to risk it all for their forbidden love, but it seemed he had risked it all for nothing. The girl he put all his time, faith, and money into sponsoring would not be queen nor would she be his wife. After all of this, he was walking away with nothing. She at least had her duchy and title, but now even all of that felt like nothing.

Eventually, Riley decided that she needed to eat. She had no motivation to do anything more than slip on a robe and slippers before heading to the kitchens. As she walked, she realized the sun hadn’t even risen yet. She had gotten even less sleep than she thought. At least she ran little chance of bumping into anyone on her way, which was a mild consolation for her.

As quietly as she could, she slipped into the main kitchen and went straight for the fridge.

“Riley?”

She turned quickly, her heart pounding, “Liam. Hey.”

“Are you alright? What are you doing down here?” he questioned, giving her a look of concern.

“Oh, yeah, uh, I’m just not feeling too well. I think I’m coming down with something” she lied, “What are you doing?”

“I have a lot to take care of today and I wanted an early start. I didn’t want to bother the staff for a simple cup of coffee.”

“Do you know how to brew coffee?” Riley teased, an authentic grin across her face. The idea of Liam doing menial tasks like that was always humorous. 

“It can’t be too hard” he shrugged, dumping the coffee beans right into the pot.

“No, no! Not like that! You’ll break it!” she laughed. Liam stopped mid pour and blushingly handed the beans over to Riley, who made quick work of grinding them up and pouring them into the filter.  
“What would I do without you?” Liam chuckled, pressing the “Start” button on the machine. Riley cautiously met his eyes, something she dreaded doing since his proposal. Everytime he looked her there was, of course, the authentic care, kindness, and friendship, but never without deep hurt. It was always present in his eyes when she was around, and she truly hated seeing it, even more so now that she fully understood it. The idea of him feeling as horrible as she did in this moment made her stomach churn.

His face quickly shifted to one full of concern, and he ever so gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “Riley, are you alright?” he pressed.

She hesitated for a moment, but knew immediately that she had no desire to tell him yet. She wasn’t sure if he’d be hopeful for their own future or if he’d up and murder Maxwell, but neither of those things were what she wanted. Even if she wanted to tell him, she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to utter the words.

“Oh, yeah. I just really am not feeling well” Riley said.

Though he clearly wasn’t buying it, Liam nodded, “Alright then, well the kitchen probably isn’t the best place for you. I can have your meals sent up to you.” Riley thanked him and spun away, hoping he didn’t notice her eyes start to cloud. She darted back to her room as quickly and quietly as she could, laying back in her bed and dozing off.

Hours later, she woke up to the sound of someone pounding on her door. Ugh, Maxwell. She groaned and rolled over onto her side, closing her eyes. She wasn’t ready to face him yet-- not even close.

Unfortunately, the incessant knocking didn’t stop. Riley angrily threw her pillow at the door.

“Brooks, it’s me, Drake. Open up! I know you’re in there!”

Begrudgingly, Riley got up and unlocked her door. She swung it open to reveal Drake carrying a tray of food, a look of deep concern on his face.

“Oh, thanks Drake” she smiled, reaching out to grab the tray. Drake walked past her and into the room, plopping down in the chair of her vanity. Realizing there was no way she could get out of this, she followed him into the room and sat at the end of her bed.

“Liam told me you weren’t feeling well,” he explained, placing the tray onto her lap, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, I think I just have a bug or something.”

“Yeah, you don’t look so--” Drake stopped himself quickly. Riley raised an eyebrow at him.

“You look tired. That’s all” he continued, “I wasn’t going to check on you, but I noticed your breakfast tray outside your door still untouched.”

Riley looked down at her plate inquisitively, “Did you go get me fresh food instead?” Drake nodded.

“Gee Drake, thank you. That’s really kind of you.”

“Anytime!” Drake beamed. The two of them sat in awkward silence, Drake clearly contemplating how to ask what’s really going on. After several minutes, Drake stood up.

“Well, I definitely don’t want to catch whatever is making you so… tired, so I’m going to head out.”

Riley laughed, “Thanks for lunch, Walker.”

“Anytime, Brooks. Holler if you need me.” He gave her one last fleeting glance of worry before grabbing her food scraps and heading out the door. Although her heart was broken, she was comforted in the knowledge that she wasn’t going to go through this alone.


End file.
